Archive for December, 2012

Official Safariland Holster Dealer

It’s official, Rogue Elite is now an authorized Safariland and Bianchi dealer here in Southeastern Pennsylvania.  Our Broomall showroom and the demand from local law enforcement has given us a strong and stable foothold in this area after 7yrs of drop shipping various products for years.  There are many products that our Law Enforcement Community have asked for and many of them can only be had by direct dealers and not through drop shipping distributors.   The Safariland product line is vast and the variations in firearms, light and lasers that are available to them can great complicate the holster selections.

Many tactical teams need thigh or drop leg holsters and many are using the TLR-1 or TLR-3 gun lights.  Not everyone chooses to use the same gear and many have used the Safariland holsters with the Surefire X300 flashlights.  The change in flashlights can cause many to use a different holster and at $140 per holster that really can get expensive.  There is usually a very thorough testing period before a department chooses a sidearm and flashlights take just as much time to test out.   Normally it’s Surefire or Streamlight but we have seen quite a few of the Viridian laser flashlight combos.

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Woolrich Elite nearing the end?

Its looking more and more like the Woolrich Elite Series Tactical product line is no more.  We’ve seen several clothing companies and various other tactical gear manufacturers pull out of China and the task of retooling the the machines and launching the products in a bad economy have been rough.   We recently heard that Tru-Spec is now making their clothing in Honduras which is a major shift from our standpoint because just about everyone making tactical clothing came in from somewhere in Asia.   India, Cambodia, Vietnam, China it seemed like everyone had a manufacturer over there, but cost increases have really hit some companies and from what we see it can cause a certain percentage of your customers to switch to another brand.

Now that we  have such a large Law Enforcement customer base, many of these guys and gals have a clothing allowance and increase the cost of tactical clothing by $10 per item means they may can few items.   The differences between 5.11 tactical and TruSpec shirts are considerable as far as pocket designs and such, but many of the Tru-Spec and 5.11 tactical clothing products are made of similar materials.   The differences are quality control and sizing consistency.  We here so many complaints about 5.11 products getting expensive and the truth of the matter, they are not the only ones, Vertx pants are usually over $60, Woolrich Elite $50 and from what we see Tru-Spec products from Atlanco are the best priced products.

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Tactical Lifestyles from Smith Optics Elite

Smith Optics Elite Lifestyle ballistic eyewear gives you the protection you need but with a stylish look. The Hideout Tactical Eyewear is available in clear, gray, Polarized Gray and the new Brown Polarized sunglasses. Smith Optics has been around for a very long time and making quality eyewear is something Smith Optics has proven. Having tactical clothing and gear that is comfortable and durable is something that the tactical community has been asking for and the Smith Optics Elite Tactical Lifestyles has achieved that.

It’s always best to be able pickup things like this at a stocking dealer so you can try them on.  All of the tactical lifestyles Smith Optics Elite ballistic eyewear are used by our local Law Enforcement and Government Security officials.   Tactical Teams and Swat teams a like use the Boogie Regulator and Smith Optics Elite Outside the Wire ballistic goggles like the Lo Pro goggle and the Turbo Fan goggle. There are big differences between this line of eyewear compared to others that are priced less.  The best thing to do is stop in our Broomall, PA location and try them on for yourself.

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You get what you pay for with holsters, but sometimes you can pay too much!

I have several very nice leather holsters from brands like Galco and Desantis and they really, really, really look nice.   Most of them get used on rare occasions but there was a time that I thought I need to spend money like  that for a good holster.  When you spend a $1000 on a firearm sometimes it’s hard to complain about spending $75 on a holster rather than wonder if you are a cheap skate for spending only $25 on one.   One of our most popular holsters right now are the Don Hume holsters and although they are not as nice as the Desantis, they are very well priced.

When it comes to carrying open carry or in the winter, I personally prefer to carry large frame autos.   One of my favorite holsters for the winter are the Fobus holsters namely the newer E2 models.  These have a level of retention that you can adjust unlike the original fobus paddle holster design and this will give you some tolerance for safety and security.   If you want something a little bit more secure then probable the level 2 retention holsters are for  you, but these tend to be over played for concealed carry.  I’m not a big fan of locking up firearms unless i’m on duty.

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Tactical outerwear from Tru-Spec

It looks like Tru-Spec has really grown some balls in recent years and several of our customers that have shopped here over the years have been shocked by the change over we’ve seen from Woolrich Elite and Eotac to the Tru-Spec brand.  There are so many cool things out from Tru-Spec that they really have cut into the 5.11 market and really have a lot of jackets, pants, and especially a growing Law Enforcement and Military product line.   We’ve fielded the Tru-Spec EMS pants and wanted to hear from the people wearing the 5.11 pants and we’ve had a 98% positive response from men and women about their ems pants.   There are a lot of good products out there now but it really has been a pain watching companies come and go and certain brands really loose their quality control.

We’re about 90% of the way through the Tru-Spec softshell outwear promotion that started in mid-October and the Tru-Spec soft shell jackets have been the biggest hit.  We’re still waiting for feedback about the other Tru-Spec jackets but the soft shells have a very broad use since they are not just heavy winter jackets.  Finding something that looks good and can be used for atleast half of the year here in Pennsylvania means getting your moneys worth.  There have been times guys have purchased things like the Woolrich Elite Twill jackets and then we have a very mild winter and it never gets worn.

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Eotech holographic sights are they still competing?

If you ask any of the local law enforcement officers in our area, that’s all you’ll hear them talk about.  Most SWAT Teams are still running these optics and the first rule of an optic for them is they must be able to keep both eyes open.   For any optics like the Trijicon ACOGS, they are more of a  liability for a police officer that may be in a hostage situation at 20yds rather than nailing a Taliban soldier at 4oo meters.  There have been many technological improvements to optics and to some people Eotech might be slacking because they are still reliant on batteries, but for short deployments that’s rarely and issue.  I personally run an Eotech 512 AA on my LWRC M6A1 and I have had some wear issues and batteries fail on me.  I had to super glue the contacts back in and recently heard that this was part of the reason the CR123 batteries are being used and they are also going in sideways instead of forward.

The Eotech XPS sights are smaller and lighter compared to the most popular Eotech 512 AA battery and this means something for those that are running various pressure switches or gun sights.   The smaller lighter XPS Eotech sights are running with the CR123 batteries and these batteries will give you more shelf life than the AA batteries and take up less weight.   The only bad thing about the CR123 batteries is they are not that common in gun stores or retail locations and if they are they are usually more expensive.  Buying these in bulk is a good idea, we normally sell them in 12 packs for $23.99.

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All of those gas piston guns out there….

There are many guns popping up that are now piston driven, everything from Ruger, Adams, POF, and many more.  One of the best levels of advice I’ve given to people when they ask about a certain firearm is to not be the first  one to buy it because you’ll be the first one that has to send your gun back when they find out there is a design flaw or an upgrade.  This happened with the Beretta 92F and we ended up with the Beretta 92FS, and even the LWRC M6A1 had some major internal changes after the gun was first fielded and this is considered the Cadillac of AR15 piston driven guns.

We’ve sold a lot of the LWRC M6A2 guns in the last year or so because they still are the kings of the piston guns.   Recently we’ve also sold a  lot of the Adams gas piston upper receivers which are different in design but I can’t tell you which is better or if they are worth what they are selling for until they have been fielded and  used on the ranges  long enough.   I’ve seen many minor issues with guns from spring flaws, weak pistons, making the bolt carrier group a one piece and eliminating the screws that keep the gas key in place.  These were sheering off on the guns after a  few thousand rounds but anyone that purchased these about 2yrs after they came out got the better version.

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Be careful about about how much screwing around you do with your 1911s

I’ve had many family members and friends ask me to go shopping with them to help them pick up a firearm.  There have been many times that I have warned people about buying a certain gun even though it looked like it was a good price.  Many of the times it was a firearm that had obviously been customized.  The biggest warning sights are usually when the triggers have been changed.   That can mean that somebody was lessening the trigger pull weight and it’s also a hint that it was turned into a target gun and there may be other parts like springs or buffers inside it.   I have a family member that purchased a 1911 because he had one in the military and the one he eye balled at a gun store had exactly these issues.

After we took this firearm to the gun club it actually jammed up on us several times, I tried to take it apart to see what the spring looked like but it had a full length guide rod and I did not have any familiarity with that.   We even tried several of my wilson combat magazines that usually solve many 1911 problems but the gun still hung up.   We later found out that there was a tool we needed and there was in fact a buffer that was decaying inside the gun and causing all of the malfunctions.   There are so many new 1911s out there, Sigs, Les Bauer, Kimber ect. that you have to watch the amount of tinkering people do with them because not all of the 1911 parts and especially holsters are going to work with them.

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Best gun cases for the buck?

Yes, we realize that not everyone looking for an AR15 is  going to want to pick up an LWRC M6A2 so we don’t always stock the most expensive items out there.  There is something to be said for getting what you paid for but not everything has to be expensive.  There are many products that are just what you need and you don’t need all of the added features or added cost.  The  only bad thing about shopping for products like this is they tend to be foreign made products and it’s rare to find good products in a low price range that are Made in the USA.   We stock a lot of the higher end  products especially the tactical nylon gear like the Elite Survival Systems products.

We realize that Uncle Mike’s makes some very nice products but not everything is going to work for you.  One of our top selling online sales for nylon gun cases and gun bags are the Bulldog gun cases which are always very well priced.  These gun cases can help protect your handguns or rifles to and from the firing range, in your closet or just for storing in your gun safe.  There are always varying degrees of rifle case protection and not everyone needs to spend $80-$110 on a padded rifle case.  They do make some very inexpensive assault rifle cases for under $40.  Check them out if you are on a budget.

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Time to change the way you view optics?

Ever since I picked up my crossbow from Horton and it came  with the illuminated red and green reticle, i have changed my mind about the types of optics that I am going to be using.  I had a lot of trouble going from standard duplex reticles to all of those circle, triangles and hash marks that you see on many combat optics.  I’ve learned in the past that it’s best to pick a bullet weight that is flat shooting and then give yourself a better chance at getting a hit rather than knowing all of your bullet drops at various distances and having to bring a range finder with you.   For 556 I tend to stick to 62gr bullets and the 150gr for .308 if I want that flat shooting trajectory.

When i first looked through the Trijicon Accupoint scopes that looked very odd to me.  I had trouble understanding why I need to have a pole reticle but the Trijicon Accupoint rifle scopes have a very clear and pin point aiming system that can actually help many shooters see their target instead of covering it with crosshairs.  There are different reticles you can get and background can make a difference.   There are certain wooded areas where amber or yellow reticles might do better for  your eyes than the green or red, but it’s really all about preference.   There are many Trijicon Optics out there to choose from and their hunting optics are superb.

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